Cap assembly for multi-size well casings

ABSTRACT

A cap assembly for capping the upper ends of well casings of various diameters and associated electrical conduit and providing electrical cable passage therethrough from the conduit into the casing. The cap assembly has an electrical conduit adapter and a cap member with a main dome portion defining a casing chamber of generally circular cross-section and a dome extension portion defining an adapter chamber. The main dome and dome extension portions of the cap member have a stepped series of annular downwardly facing bearing lands of progressively smaller diameter formed therein about the periphery of the chambers for selective seating on the upper end of various sized well casings. The bearing lands have substantially straight sections converging away from the casing chamber. The adapter has an outer taper complimentary to the convergence of the straight sections of the bearing lands for selective seating of the bearing land sections on the adapter. The same selected one of the bearing lands in said cap member is engaged on both the well casing and the adapter. The adapter also has a lip portion with a bearing land segment engaged over the upper end of the well casing. Set screws clamp the cap member and adapter together on the well casing and electrical conduit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention reates generally to well casing caps and moreparticularly to well casing caps providing for entry of electrical cableinto the well casing. Such well casing caps are particularly suited foruse with submersible pump type installations wherein it is necessary toprovide for electrical cable entry, pump and valve supports, hangers,lift-outs, service access openings, and the like at the top of the wellcasing. While the well casing cap of the invention is primarily intendedfor use in association with submersible pump type installations, itsapplication is not necessarily limited thereto.

The invention herein is an improvement in the well casing caps of thetype shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,035,732 and 3,473,573. While the capsshown in these patents are excellent caps, they fit only one size ofwell casing. Since well casings that are commercially available andgenerally in use vary from about four to six inches in diameter, theknown caps must be made and stocked in several different sizes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention comprises a well casing cap assembly of the typeproviding for entry of an electrical cable into the well casing whereinthe unique construction of the cap member and electrical conduit adapterof the assembly allow them to be combined in a unique fashion so thatthe assembly can be used to cap well casings of different commerciallyavailable sizes.

The cap assembly can be dependably mounted on plain-end well casings ofseveral different diameters while permitting easy removal of the capmember portion for access to the interior of the well casing tofacilitate placement, removal and servicing of pumps, valves, fittings,and other parts of the drop-assembly commonly used in submersible pumpor "pitless" installations.

The objects and advantages of this invention are accomplished by thenovel construction and cooperation of the cap assembly parts. The capassembly includes an electrical conduit adapter and a cap member with amain dome portion defining a casing chamber of generally circularcross-section and a dome extension portion defining an adapter chamber.The main dome and dome extension portions of the cap member have astepped series of annular downwardly facing bearing lands ofprogressively smaller diameter formed about the periphery of thechambers for selective seating on the upper end of various sized wellcasings. The bearing lands have substantially straight sectionsconverging away from the casing chamber. The adapter has an outerconfiguration complimentary to the taper of the straight sections of thebearing lands. The adapter is mated with the straight bearing landsections of the selected one of the bearing lands seated on the wellcasing and has a lip portion with a bearing land segment engaged overthe upper end of the well casing. Set screws clamp the cap member andadapter together on the well casing and electrical conduit.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of theassembly for exemplification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a cap assembly embodying the principles of thisinvention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along lines 2--2 of FIG. 1 showing the capassembly mounted on a well casing and electrical conduit.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2 through thecap member of the assembly.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view section through the well casing showing the capassembly of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view section through a smaller diameter well casingshowing the cap assembly of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the electrical conduit adapter portion of theassembly.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the electrical conduit adapter shown in FIG.6.

FIG. 8 is a top view of a modified form of cap member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMEBODIMENTS

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numeralsrefer to like parts throughout the several views, the cap assembly isgenerally shown at 20 in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5. In FIGS. 2 and 4 theassembly is mounted on a well casing 21 and electrical conduit 22 whileFIG. 5 shows the same casing assembly 20 mounted on a somewhat smallerdiameter casing 21a and electrical conduit 22. The cap assembly isdesigned to be mounted on well casings of varying commercially availablesizes. While a cap assembly for capping well casings of only twodiameters is shown in the drawings for exemplification, it should beunderstood that the cap assembly may be adapted for accommodatingadditional sizes of well casings without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

The cap assembly has a cap member 23 shown in FIGS. 1-4 having a maindome portion 23a defining a casing chamber 24a of generally cylindricalcross-section and a dome extension portion 23b defining an adapterchamber 24b. The adapter chamber has substantially straight sidewallsections 25 which converge away from the casing chamber as shown in FIG.4. The casing chamber and adapter chamber are in open communication witheach other to permit an electrical cable (not shown) to be run from theelectrical conduit 22, through the adapter chamber and casing chamber,and downwardly into the well casing.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 6 and 7 an electrical conduit adapter 26 has athreaded hole 27 for mounting the adapter on the upper end of electricalconduit 22 or a suitable connecter such as shown at 28 forming a part ofthe conduit.

The main dome portion 23a and dome extension portion 23b have a steppedseries of annular downwardly facing bearing lands 29 and 30 ofprogressively smaller diameter formed therein about the periphery of thecasing chamber and adapter chamber for selective seating on the upperend of various size well casings. A series of two is shown forexemplification, however, it is recognized that, if desired, more couldbe provided. The bearing lands 29 and 30 have substantially straightsections 29a and 29b and 30a and 30b, respectively, which have the sameconvergence or taper as the sidewall sections 25 of the adapter chamber.As best seen in FIGS. 4-7, the electrical conduit adapter has an outertaper which compliments and corresponds to the convergence of thestraight sections of the bearing land sections to permit the bearingland sections to be selectively positioned on the adapter depending onthe size of well casing being capped. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, theadapter is mated with the straight bearing land sections of the selectedone of said bearing lands seated on the well casing. This constructionand cooperation of the tapered electrical conduit adapter and theconverging straight sections of the bearing lands permit the receipt ofthe adapter in the adapter chamber of the cap member in either an outerposition shown in FIG. 4 to accommodate a larger diameter casing 21 orin an inner position as shown in FIG. 5 to accommodate a somewhatsmaller size well casing 21a.

The electrical conduit adapter 26 has a lip portion 31 with an arcuatebearing land segment 32 engageable over the upper end of the wellcasing. As shown in FIG. 2, the bearing land segment lies insubstantially the same plane as the selected one of the bearing landsections seated on the adapter. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the arcuatebearing land segment of the adapter, together with a portion of thatbearing land seated on the adapter, form a substantially continuousbearing land for seating on the upper end of the well casing.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, tightening means in the form of setscrews 33 (three shown) clamp the adapter 26 and cap member 23 in tightmating relation when the cap member is seated on the upper end of thewell casing and the adapter is mounted on the electrical conduit.

As shown in FIG. 5, the same cap assembly can be utilized to cap anelectrical conduit and a well casing 21a of smaller diameter than casing21 shown in FIG. 2 by seating the smaller inside bearing land 30 of thecap member 23 on the well casing 21a and converging bearing landsections 30a and 30b on electrical conduit adapter 26. The set screws 33in this case, must extend inwardly further to tighten the assembly. Inthis arrangement the arcuate bearing land segment 32 of the adapterforms with the bearing land 30, a substantially circular and continuousbearing land for engagement on the upper end of the well casing 21a.

A modified form of the cap member 23 is shown at 23a in FIG. 8 wherein ahole 34 is provided through the main dome portion of the cap memberopening into the casing chamber for venting, accessory connections,support, or the like.

It is understood that the invention is not confined to the particularconstruction or arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described,but embraces all such modifications thereof as come within the scope ofthe following claims.

I claim:
 1. A cap assembly for capping the upper ends of a well casingand adjacent electrical conduit, said cap assembly comprising:a. a capmember having a main dome portion defining a casing chamber of generallycircular cross-section and a dome extension portion defining an adapterchamber in open communication with said casing chamber; b. an electricalconduit adapter for mounting on the electrical conduit and beingreceived within said adapter chamber; c. a stepped series of annulardownwardly facing bearing lands of progressively smaller diameter formedin said main dome and dome extension portions about the periphery ofsaid chambers for selective seating of the bearing lands on the upperend of various sized well casings; d. said bearing lands havingsubstantially straight sections converging away from said casingchamber, and said electrical conduit adapter having an outer tapercomplimentary to the convergence of the straight sections of saidbearing lands for selective seating of said bearing land sections onsaid electrical conduit adapter, said adapter mating with the straightbearing land sections of the selected one of said bearing lands seatedon said well casing; and e. tightening means for clamping said adapterand said cap member in mating relation when said cap member is seated onthe upper end of the well casing and said adapter is mounted on theelectrical conduit.
 2. The cap assembly as specified in claim 1 whereinsaid adapter has a lip portion with a bearing land segment engageableover the upper end of the well casing, said bearing land segment lyingin substantially the same plane as the selected one of said bearing landsections seated on said adapter.
 3. The cap assembly as specified inclaim 2 wherein the bearing land segment on said adapter is arcuate soas to form, with a portion of that bearing land seated on said adapter,a substantially continuous bearing land for seating on the upper end ofthe well casing.
 4. In a cap assembly for capping the upper ends of awell casing and adjacent electrical conduit wherein said cap assemblycomprises, a cap member having a main dome portion defining a casingchamber of generally circular cross-section and a dome extension portiondefining an adapter chamber in open communication with said casingchamber, an electrical conduit adapter for mounting on the electricalconduit and receivable within said adapter chamber and tightening meansfor clamping said adapter and cap member in mating relation when saidcap member is seated on the upper end of the well casing and saidadapter is mounted on the electrical conduit, the improvementcomprising:a. a stepped series of annular downwardly facing bearinglands of progressively smaller diameter formed in said main dome anddome extension portions about the periphery of said chambers forselective seating of the bearing lands on the upper end of various sizedwell casings; and b. said bearing lands having substantially straightsections converging away from said casing chamber and said electricalconduit adapter having an outer taper complimentary to the convergenceof the straight sections of said bearing lands for selective seating ofsaid bearing land sections on said adapter, said adapter mating with thestraight bearing land sections of the selected one of said bearing landsseated on said well casing.